When Carmageddon hits, eat your way through it

As residents in and around Los Angeles expect a weekend-long traffic jam, farmers markets and food festivals may be what get them through it.

Tue, Jul 12 2011 at 12:56 PM EST

Photo: FSI/Flickr

Have you heard about the impending gloom and doom that will be happening in Los Angeles this weekend? The city will be closing a 10-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway the night of Friday, July 15 and ending 5 a.m. the following Monday morning, throwing part of the city into what people are calling "Carmageddon."

Traffic will, apparently, be at a standstill. It will be a two-day traffic jam for those silly enough to get into a car. For those who want to make the best of it, good food and drink seems to be a good way to ease the pain. If you’re stuck in the Carmageddon area this weekend, here are a few of the options that you might want to look into:

A trip (by bike or foot) to the Santa Monica Farmers Markets would be a great way to spend the time, but what about the farmers who have to bring their goods by vehicle? The city is allowing farmers to park their vehicles free of charge in city lots for the weekend, but that doesn’t allow for sleeping arrangements for the farmers. The Good Food blog has a solution. They’re asking residents to host a farmer for the weekend or use any hotel connections they might have to get them free rooms.
The Eat Real Festival will be two days of food, drink and entertainment. The food is street food-inspired but with tasty, local, fresh ingredients. And for those who would like to bike to the Eat Real Festival during "Carmageddon," The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is offering a free guided ride to the festival where bike valets will be waiting to park and watch your bike.
The LA Street Food Fest "will feature a curated selection of street-inspired eats from numerous vendors including the city's best gourmet trucks, old-school carts, stands, celeb chefs, live entertainment, demos and more."
Collaboration Craft Beer Garden will be a way for the over-21 crowd to forget about "Carmageddon." Some of the biggest names in L.A.'s acclaimed craft beer industry have banded together to create a pop-up mobile craft beer garden.